Heel for shoes



F. FAY

HEEL FOR SHOES Nov. 20, 1956 Filed Aug. 22, 1951 INVENTOR. Fred Qty HEELFOR SHOES Fre ay, Kansas y, Mo.

Application August 22, 1951,Serial No. 243,04?

1 Claim. (Cl. 36-35) This invention relates to heels for shoes, bootsand other types of footwear, and has for its primary object theprovision of means forming a part of the heel for resisting wear whileat the same time presenting ,a cushioning effect to absorb shock andthereby add to the comfort of the wearer.

It is recognized that various and sundry means have heretofore beensuggested to meet the problem 'of providing a heel for shoes that notonly has high wearing qualities but that is capable of absorbing atleast some of the shock that accompanies each step by the wearer. Thereare of course, heels on the open market that are made from material suchas leather or other compositions which, by virtue of the material fromwhich the same are formed, have long wearing qualities. Additionally,such heels, as well as those made from rubber, are conventionallyfurnished with auxiliary attachment such as metal plates for the purposeof resisting wear While maintaining a certain degree of resiliency. Itis common knowledge however, that such plates or other appliances soonbecome worn and do not last for the life of the shoe. Furthermore,metallic plates, whether embedded in the heel or attached thereto,become loose and are oftentimes lost after the same become partiallyworn. Metallic plates are particularly objectionable because of theaccompanying noise, together with the tendency to overcome theresiliency of the heel to which they are aflixed, even though such heelmay be made from a sponge-like rubber.

It is, therefore, the most important object of the present invention toprovide a heel that includes a wear-resistant member joined directly tothe main body of the heel, which of itself is highly resilient and madefrom a suitable spongy material such as rubber or rubber-likecompositions.

Another object hereof is to provide a wear-resistant band for rubberheels that is disposed only at the periphery of the heel where most wearis likely to occur, the band being also made from rubber to provide acertain degree of resiliency, but of a character that is capable ofwithstanding abuse to a substantially higher degree than the materialfrom which the main body of the heel is made.

Other objects include the way in which the main body of the heel hereofis formed from a highly resilient, spongy, rubber-like material toprovide necessary shockabsorbing qualities; the way in which such bodyis provided with a peripheral groove for receiving the wearresistantband hereof; the manner in which the wearresistant portion of the heelconstitutes a continuous band at the periphery at the main body of theheel and within the cavity thereof; and the way in which the aforesaidband is formed from material that not only has a degree of resiliencybut more particularly is highly resistant to wear.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is an inverted, plan view of a shoe or other lar in cross-section-as illustrated 'in'Fig's. 3 and 4 and,

2,770,892 Patented Nov. 20, 1956 footwear showing the heel of thepresent invention mounted thereon.

Fig. 2 is an inverted, perspective view of the heel per se.

Fig.3 is a cross-sectionalview taken on line III-Ill of Fig. 2; and IFig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line I V-.-IV of Fig. 2. t

The bed illustrated in the drawing is broadly'desig nated by the numeral10 and shown in Fig. 1 operably mounted upon a shoe or other footwear12. Obviously, the precise shape and contour of the heel 10 will varyand accordingly, heels differing in shape from that illustrated inthedrawing which embody the improvements hereof, areconternplated by thisinvention.

Heel 10 comprises two separate parts, namely, a main body portion 14 anda band portion 16. The normally lowermost face '18 of the body 14 isprovided with a con-' tinuous peripheral groove 20 for receiving thecontinuous band or filling 16, the latter preferably beingrectangutherefore complementary with the L-shaped .cr ss sectionalcontour of'the groove 20. It is to be preferred that the lowermost face18 of the body 14 and the lowermost face 22 of the band 16, be flush,and likewise that the peripheral edge 24 of the body 14 be flush withthe peripheral edge 26 of the band 16.

Any suitable means may be provided for joining the band 16 to the body14 such as by use of adhesive or by employment of a suitable mouldingprocess that is capable of rigidly interconnecting the two portions 14and 16 of the heel 10.

The body portion 14 of the heel 10 is preferably made from a suitablerubber or rubber-like composition that is highly resilient or spongy,and to this end, since the band 16 is provided in the heel hereof, suchmaterial for the body portion 14 may be made more resilient and be lesscapable of resisting wear than is common in rubber heels now beingprovided for footwear. In other words, since the band 16 is fullycapable of resisting wear, and so disposed as to prevent undue wear onthe body portion 14, it is possible through a heel of this character toadd to the comfort of the wearer by increasing the resiliency in bodyportion 14.

The band 16 on the other hand is preferably formed from a material thatis highly capable of resisting wear and it is contemplated that the samealso be made from rubber or rubber-like compositions having a certaindegree of resiliency but appreciably less spongy and soft than thematerial from which the body 14 is made. A rubber-like composition thathas been found to be highly satisfactory is that which is now beingemployed in the manufacture of belts and belting materials. Such rubberymaterial, whether of a synthetic nature or including natural rubber asits base, is highly capable of resisting wear and its successful use inproducing belting establishes its value in forming a portion of the heelof the present invention. belting includes canvas or fabric laminationsand it is obvious that such modifications of the material to form theband 16, may be utilized in the present invention.

It is common knowledge that normally a heel wears away at its lowermostmarginal edge particularly at points 28 and 30 and even at point 32,though less rapidly, all depending upon the habits of the wearer, butthat normally very little wearing takes place within the area 34 that isbounded by the band 16 of the heel of the present invention.

Accordingly, the portion 34 of body 14 willtend to wear away only asfast as hand 16 and even though the material forming the body 14 hasvery little ,wearing Oftentimes such rubber-like quality, it will beprotected by band 16. Furthermore, by leaving a considerable portion 34of the body 14 exposed and not covered by the material forming band 16,the resiliency of the body 14 is not overcome. Furthermore, by providinga continuous marginal portion or flange 36 in the body 14 between thesole of the shoe 12 and the band 16, shock will be absorbed tosubstantially the same extent as in a conventional rubber heel.

It has, been found that a heel made as above set forth will out-last thelife of the shoe and thatlthe band 16 will notbecome worn away to apoint necessitating replacement of the heel even after severalre-solings of the shoe itself.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

A heel for shoes and the like comprising a relatively thin, one-piece,highly resilient, sponge rubber body having substantially flat, paralleltop and bottom walls, and a side wall disposed perpendicularly to saidtop and bottom walls, said side wall including a convexly arcuate, rearface portion and a concavely arcuate, forward face portion, there beinga continuous, peripheral groove in the body between the side wall andthe bottom wall, said groove being L-shaped in cross section, said bodyhaving a vertical face extending upwardly from the bottom wallapproximately half the thickness of said body, and a horizontal faceextending inwardly from the side wall a distance approximately equal tosaid thickness of the body, said faces forming the top and side of thegroove; a one-piece, continuous, relatively non-resilient,wearresistant, synthetic rubber band initially separate from the body,said band being of rectangular cross section and of configurationcomplementary to the configuration of the groove, the band beingpositioned on the body in filling relationship to said groove with theoutermost and lowermost exposed surfaces of the band flush with the sidewall and bottom wall respectively, the inner surfaces of the band beingin engagement with the body; and adhesive bonding means permanentlysecuring said surfaces of the band to said faces of the body throughoutthe entire zone of their interengagement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

